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I’d have to stay away from all of them. Curse my ovaries, though—they were hot and I’d have to be blind not to notice. Baron, with his huge muscly body, broody blue eyes, and sulky mouth... he did things to me that I’d rather not contemplate. Made me aware of how small I was next to him; wonder how well we’d fit together. Then there was the tall, leanly built one who had hung back, with his golden-brown hair and pale brown eyes that twinkled with humor. His was a sneaky kind of appeal. One minute you were friends watching Netflix, and the next…bam. You were fucking on the couch and wondering when things had gotten so out of hand. And then there was the third, the one who had answered the door. Dark hair, tall and big, although not like Baron. His eyes were dark—a deep blue, I thought—and he had scowled the entire time he spoke to me. He seemed to be an asshole, so staying away from him shouldn’t be an issue.
He also seemed to be the leader of their little man posse, which could be a problem. He did not want me here.Don’t leave your feminine products laying around… puhleeze.
Dismissing the thought, I unzipped my duffle and began pulling things from it. I would just have to deal with it.
The room was small, with a narrow bed in one corner, a single window covered by a set of slatted metal blinds, a nightstand, and a small desk. A key for the dorm laid upon the desk and I picked it up, testing its weight in my hand before adding it to my key ring. The action felt heavy with import. I had a key. I belonged.
As I made the bed, I couldn’t help comparing it to the off-campus apartment I’d shared with a friend in New York. It had been a corner unit in a proximal building, with big windows and high ceilings. The light was the thing I remembered most, light that flooded the rooms when the floor to ceiling drapes were open and made everything feel open and airy and clean.
The quad I’d stepped into was nice, with a central space combining kitchen, bathroom, and common area, but it couldn’t compare to the luxury or sophisticated design of my former apartment.
I was one hundred percent okay with that. Especially if it came spider-free. At the end of the day, I’d learned that luxury and the friends it brought were overrated. All I truly needed was my sister’s safety and a place to lay my head at night.
I wasn’t going to let these guys take that away from me.
I snapped a quick panoramic photo and sent it to Eleanor.
Getting settled in! You good?
She messaged back as I worked to unpack the scant belongings I’d brought with me.
LensBaby:That room sucks, but enjoy.
I snorted. She had taken the shift from stupid-rich to ordinary-poor kind of hard.
Finished, I glanced around with my hands on my hips. It was time for my first class of the day, so I gathered up the books I needed and headed out, thrilled that I would be coming back here today instead of having to drive all the way back to the farm. The extra hours in each day—for sleep, study, running, eventelevision—would be worth anything I had to put up with.
Even Asshole. I stopped short as I stepped out of my bedroom, arrested by the sight of him pulling himself up on the bar hung in his doorway.Sweet baby Jesus, the man was a work of art.His back was to me, and I stared, hypnotized by the power play of latissimus dorsi, trapezius, and biceps as he pulled himself up and sank slowly down, over and over. My brain supplied the names of the planes and slopes that made up his back, but it was my body that defined its impact, flushing with heat. He was lean yet solid, with well-defined musculature that made me want to trace its contours with a finger.
Or perhaps my lips.
“Take a picture; it’ll last longer.” The trite observation came from my right, and I looked to see the golden one leaning in his own doorway, eating an apple. My fascination with Asshole had been so complete I hadn’t even heard the sound of his chomping until he spoke. My cheeks flamed. Golden One was in a tank top that revealed tautly defined arms and shoulders, athletic shorts hanging low on his hips.
“Does he ever wear a shirt?”
He smirked. “Never, and you shouldn’t wear them, either. Ventilation and all that.”
Asshole let himself down and jerked his thumb at the bar. “All yours.” Golden One set the half-eaten apple down on the coffee table and I realized they were working out together.
“You get a good look?” Asshole stalked closer to me and I forced my eyes to his face.
“I was waiting on you to finish. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Uh-huh.” He raised one eyebrow imperiously, silently asking what I wanted.
“Uh… yeah. I wanted to know what your name is.”
“Galen. Why, want to write it in your notebook and circle it with a heart?”
Mother Mary, he had a high opinion of himself.“No, I wanted to call you something other than Asshole in my head, but I can see now that I need to just carry on.”
“Why do you need to call me anything in your head?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I just like planning ways to avoid assholes.”
Golden One snorted through a pull-up and dropped to the floor. “Asshole suits him fine, don’t worry. I’m Ezra and apparently you know Baron.” There was a question in his statement, but I ignored it and nodded.
“Nice to meet you, Ezra. Gotta go.”
